Centrifugal gun



June 2, 1936. B. F. s. BADEN-POWELL 1 CENTRIFUGAL GUN Filed Sept. 25, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 2, 1936. B. F. s. BADEN-POWELL 2,043,117

CENTRIFUGAL GUN Filed Sept. 25, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet "2,

Patented June 2, 1936 PATENT OFFICE CENTRIFUGAL GUN Baden Fletcher Smyth Baden-Powell, Riverhead, Sevenoaks, England Application September 23, 1935, Serial No. 41,819 In Great Britain November 2, 1934 7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in centrifugal guns of the type in which projectiles are passed through a rotating barrel or barrels opening out of a cylindrical or other chamber concentric with the centre or axis about which said barrel or barrels are adapted to rotate, so that the projectiles are discharged by centrifugal force.

The object of the present invention is to enable the projectiles to be fed more quickly and positively.

According to the present invention, in a centrifugal gun of the type specified above, the wall of said chamber is continuously circular except where it is tangentially gapped or branched off to form the breech of each barrel and a feed opening adjacent to the circular wall is provided for depositing the projectiles laterally into said chamber against its wall and a. fixed pusher or impeller is provided for causing the projectiles .to travel around the wall by which they are guided into the breech. Where the Wall is gapped, projecting pieces are provided for guiding the projectiles into the breech. The projectiles are deposited at any point into the chamber near the Wall around which they are carried by the fixed pusher until the projecting piece is reached when they are guided by this into the breech. The pusher or impeller is fixed to the underside of a stationary plate and the projecting guide would be so formed as to allow the pusher to pass through or over it. A magazine is mounted on a stationary plate above the cylindrical chamber and extends vertically, the projectiles lying one above another, while a spring may be provided in the magazine to press the projectiles down. A number of such vertical magazines may be arranged fixed together radiating from a centre, in such a way that the whole may be revolved and each magazine brought into position in turn. The stationary plate is provided with a. slot through which the projectiles pass into the chamber, a cut-off may be added for closing this slot except when a projectile is to drop, or be pressed, into the chamber. The cutoff may be opened by hand and closed rapidly by a spring-so that the lowest projectile only then falls'or is impelled into the chamber after which the cut-off closes. The cut-off can, however, be held open in order that a number of projectiles can pass continuously, in turn, into the chamber and be discharged even at the rate of one to every revolution of the barrel.

I It may, however, be found desirable not to dis- .'charge .the projectiles so frequently; In this connection it will be understood that an increase in the rate of projectiles discharged results in a decrease in the speed of rotation of the gun. To enable the rate of supply of bullets to be reduced, a roller mounted on a stationary part is actuated by gearing so as to allow of one projectile being deposited in the chamber every three or more revolutions. This gearing may comprise a spiral member or Worm (hereinafter referred to as a worm) which engages with and is adapted to drive a gear wheel (hereinafter referred to as the worm wheel) of the roller for receiving and releasing the projectiles. The worm is fixed to the rotor, the worm wheel being mounted on the stationary plate. The worm may be of spiral form, or it may be circular except for a segmental portion which extends inwardly or outwardly relative to the circle of the remainder and provides what is, in effect a spiral worm.

With the spiral worm, the worm wheel is con- H tinuously rotated, whereas with the circular worm, the worm wheel remains stationary while this is moving around the circular portion and only rotates when it comes to the inwardly or outwardly set segmental portion.

The projectile roller carries the worm wheel at one end and is formed along its length with three or more axial recesses in its periphery.

The projectile roller is mounted beneath the slot in the plate through which the projectiles are fed from the magazine one by one into the recesses in said roller. The projectiles, as they are fed one by one to the roller, are moved by the roller against an apron depending from the plate, until when near the bottom the projectile is released and deposited in the chamber.

The worm wheel is preferably provided with about three, four or five teeth to each recess in the projectile roller so that a projectile is deposited in a barrel every three, four or five revolutions of the gun.

In centrifugal guns of a different type, in which 'a barrel opening out of a cylindrical chamber was non-rotatable, it has been proposed to form the chamber with a part circular wall, around which the projectiles were caused to travel by ejectors, and by which they are guided into the breech. In this proposal, however, the centrifugal force was not imparted to the projectile by rotation of the barrel, but by the ejectors.

The invention will now be describedby way of example with reference to the form of construction shown in the accompanying drawings in which:.--

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of the gun and the magazine for the projectiles.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section of the central portion of the gun.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 in Fig. 1 drawn to an enlarged scale.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a similar view to Fig. 2 of a modification.

Fig. 6 is a similar view to Fig. 3 but shows the modification in which the roller is provided for controlling the rate of supply of the projectiles.

Fig. '7 is a section on the line 1-1 in Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of a modified construction of the gun.

Fig. 9 is a cross-section on the line 9-9 in Fig. 8, showing also the stationary plate with the impeller.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 1-4 of the accompanying drawings, the gun (1 comprises a cylindrical chamber 1) with a barrel 0 radiating from the cylindrical chamber about the axis of which this barrel is adapted to rotate on the axle b This chamber is formed with a cylindrical wall D which is continuous except for the point at which the barrel 0 joins the chamber, where it is formed with a gap b constituting the breech. The cylindrical wall is formed at the breech with a projecting piece b The projectiles are deposited into the chamber as shown in full lines in Fig. 2 at a position near the cylindrical wall b where they are held by a stationary pusher d which holds the projectiles while the gun rotates and brings them into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, in which they are guided into the breech by the projection D The pusher d is fixed to the underside of the stationary plate d shown in Fig. 3, and the projecting guide 22 is cut away at b to allow this guide to pass the pusher. A drum e is rotatably mounted on the spindle 6 carried by the stationary plate d and this drum is provided with a series of radial magazines e adapted to receive the projectiles which magazines can be successively brought, in turn, into position above a slot (1 in the stationary plate through which the projectiles are adapted to pass into the chamber 1). A spring 6 is provided in each of the magazines for ejecting the projectiles and a cut-off d which may be opened by hand and closed rapidly by a spring (not shown) so that the lowest projectile only falls or is impelled into the chamber, after which the cut-oil. closes. After all the projectiles in one magazine have passed into the cylindrical chamber, then the drum e is rotated to bring the next magazine into position above the slot d and this process is repeated until the whole of the projectiles have been discharged.

In the modified construction illustrated in Figs. 5-7, the construction is the same as in Figs. 1-4 except that, in this case, a projectile roller 9 is rotatably mounted in lugs d depending beneath the opening d in the stationary plate, this roller having three pockets marked g each of which is adapted to receive a projectile as shown by the chain dotted line in Fig. 5 and in full line in Fig. '7. This roller is provided with a worm wheel 9 meshing with a worm g which, in the construction illustrated, is circular except for the segmental portion marked g which extends inwardly relatively to the circle of the remainder and serves to turn the worm wheel when it passes the segmental portion. The worm g is fixed in, and rotates with, the cylindrical chamber 12. In the construction illustrated, the worm wheel is provided with four teeth to each pocket in the projectile roller, so that a pocket only comes into a position, such as is shown in Figs. 5 and 7, to receive the projectile once in every four revolutions of the gun and, further, a projectile is only deposited in the cylindrical chamber once in every four revolutions of the gun. The projectiles are moved by the roller against an arcuate apron d depending from the stationary plate 11 which retains the projectiles in the pocket until these are near the bottom of the roller, when the projectile is released and falls into the cylindrical chamber in the gun.

In the modified construction illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9, the gun is formed of a tube, one end of which is bent to form the cylindrical portion 1' and the other end is bent to form the radiating barrel 11 The portion i is split diametrically in half and the upper portion is removed. This inner portion is not split in a horizontal plane but in an inclined plane as shown in Fig. 9, so as to permit of the engagement of the pusher d and avoid the necessity for cutting the tube away adjacent the barrel as shown in Fig. 2, in order to allow the pusher to pass. A guide cl is also provided at the side of the pusher to cause the projectiles to fall straight down into the cylindrical portion.

In the construction described and illustrated, elongated stream-line projectiles are shown and referred to, but it will be understood that the invention is applicable to bullets of other shapes.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A centrifugal gun comprising, at least one rotary barrel, a rotary chamber concentric with the axis of rotation of said barrel, said chamber having a circular wall, having a tangential gap in the said circular wall to form the breech and having one of its sides open, a stationary plate on the open side of said chamber having an opening therein at the side of said interior wall through which projectiles can be deposited laterally in said chamber directly against its circular wall, and a pusher fixed on said plate adjacent to one end of the opening therein and adjacent to said interior wall, said pusher being adapted to retain the projectiles stationary while the said chamber' rotates whereby the projectiles are guided by the said interior wall and are directed into the breech.

2. A centrifugal gun comprising, at least one rotary barrel, a rotary circular chamber concentric with the axis of rotation of said barrel, said chamber having a tangential gap to form the breech, having a continuous circular interior Wall except for the said breech and having one of its sides open, a stationary plate on the open side of said chamber having an opening therein at the side of the circular wall of said chamber through which projectiles can be deposited laterally in said chamber against its wall, a pusher fixed on said plate adjacent to one end of the opening therein adapted to retain the projectile stationary while the chamber rotates, and a projecting piece in said chamber at the side of each gap adapted as the chamber rotates to guide the projectiles into the breech.

3. A centrifugal gun comprising at least one barrel mounted for rotation about an axis, a circular chamber rotatable with said barrel about the said axis, said chamber having a tangential gap forming a breech for each barrel, having a circular interior wall except for the breech and having one of its sides open, a stationary plate .on said open side of said chamber, having an opening adjacent to said interior wall through which the projectiles can be deposited laterally into said chamber directly against its wall, a magazine adapted to receive projectiles, said magazine being mounted on said stationary plate at the opposite side to that of said chamber, a pusher fixed on said plate adjacent to one end of the opening therein and projecting into said chamber near to its interior wall for retaining the projectiles stationary while the chamber rotates whereby the projectiles are guided by the interior wall and directed to the breech, and a projecting guide piece on said chamber adjacent to each tangential gap adapted to guide the projectiles into the breech, said guide piece being gapped to allow it to pass said pusher.

4. A centrifugal gun comprising at least one barrel mounted for rotation about an axis, a circular casing rotatable with said barrel about the said axis, said chamber having a circular wall, having a tangential gap in the said circular wall forming a breech for each barrel and having one of its sides open, a stationary plate on the open side of said chamber having an opening therein adjacent to said interior wall for permitting the projectiles to be deposited laterally into said chamber directly against its wall, a plurality of magazines assembled together as a drum, means for rotatably mounting said drum on said stationary plate so that each magazine can be brought in turn into coincidence with the opening in said plate, a pusher fixed on said plate adjecent to one end of the opening therein and projecting into said chamber near to its interior wall for retaining the projectiles stationary while the chamber rotates whereby the projectiles are guided by said wall and directed to the breech and a projecting guide piece on said chamber adjacent to each tangential gap adapted to guide the projectiles into the breech, said guide piece being gapped to allow it to pass said pusher.

5. A centrifugal gun comprising at least one barrel mounted for rotation about an axis, a circular chamber rotatable with said barrel about said axis having a circular interior wall, having a tangential gap in its interior wall forming a breech for each barrel and having one of its sides open, a stationary plate on the open side of said chamber, said plate having a slot located at the side of said interior wall for permitting projectiles to be deposited laterally into said chamber directly against its wall, a projectile roller in said slot adapted to retard the rate of feeding the projectiles to said chamber, means for rotating said projectile roller from said chamber and a pusher fixed on said plate adjacent to one end of the slot therein and projecting into said chamber near to its interior wall for retaining the projectiles stationary while the chamber rotates whereby the projectiles are guided by said interior wall and directed into the breech.

6. A centrifugal gun comprising at least one barrel mounted for rotation about an axis; a circular chamber rotatable with said barrel about the said axis, said chamber having a circular interior wall, having a tangential gap in its interior wall forming a breech for each barrel and having one of its sides open, a stationary plate on the open side of said chamber, said plate having a slot located adjacent to said interior wall for permitting projectiles to be deposited laterally g into said chamber directly against its wall, a projectile roller in said slot adapted to retard the rate of feeding the projectile to said chamber, a worm wheel on said projectile roller, a worm on said chamber meshing with said Worm wheel, said worm being circular except for a segmental portion which extends eccentrically with respect to the remainder of the worm, a pusher fixed on said plate adjacent to one end of said slot and projecting into said chamber near to its interior wall for retaining the projectiles stationary While the chamber rotates and a projecting guide piece on said chamber adjacent to each tangential gap adapted to guide the projectiles into the breech, said guide piece being gapped to allow it to pass said fixed pusher.

7. A centrifugal gun comprising a barrel of tubular form and an annular chamber of semicircular cross-sectional form integral with said barrel, said chamber forming a continuous circular wall except where it opens into the barrel, and said barrel and chamber being mounted to rotate about the axis of said chamber, a stationary plate above said chamber having a slot therein adjacent to the said circular wall through which projectiles can be fed into said annular chamber and a pusher fixed on said plate adjacent to said slot and projecting into said annular chamber for retaining said projectiles stationary while the chamber rotates, whereby the projectiles are guided and directed into said barrel.

BADEN FLETCHER SMYTH BADEN-POWELL. 

